Two CU regents defend GOP record after abstaining in chairman vote

Following a contentious University of Colorado Board of Regents chairman election, two Republican regents who abstained from voting for their GOP colleague are now defending their commitment to their party.

Regents Jim Geddes, R-Sedalia, and Sue Sharkey, R-Castle Rock, say their public voting and discussion records show their loyalty to the conservative movement -- and include a history of voting down tuition increases, supporting guns on campus, criticizing ethnic studies programs and being strong advocates of political diversity.

Despite being a Republican-controlled board, the regents in July elected Democrat Michael Carrigan as chairman for a second year in a row. Geddes and Sharkey abstained, leaving the GOP nominee, Steve Bosley, with only three votes.

The vote prompted some conservative groups to call into question the loyalty of Sharkey and Geddes to the Republican Party.

"It is outrageous that conservative voters elected these regents and they handed the leadership of the board over to a liberal," Patrick Davis of the Liberty Alliance said, according to the Colorado Observer.

But Sharkey and Geddes say they have championed Republican causes, even despite resistance in some cases.

They raised several concerns, saying fellow Republicans on the board voted to table an amendment that would have expressed support for concealed weapons on campus and wanted to send a pair of resolutions aimed at political diversity to a "laws and policies" committee which would have delayed their consideration. Without any dissent, the regents in June approved one of the measures, which calls on CU to conduct an independent climate survey to help determine whether the school respects political diversity.

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The board's chairman is responsible for agenda setting, and Sharkey and Geddes say they respect Carrigan for allowing them to bring forward matters including the February resolution in support of concealed weapons and a June presentation about their concerns over a liberal bias at CU.

"The current administration -- and two or three of the Republican regents who support the direction the administration wants to take the university -- were generally not supportive of these initiatives," Geddes and Sharkey said in a joint statement provided to the Camera. "This concern ultimately allowed the election of Democrat Michael Carrigan for a second term so (we) could be confident our conservative initiatives would be placed on the agenda and heard in public session."

Sharkey and Geddes also point out that they nominated one another for the leadership position, but they didn't gain support from their fellow Republicans, Bosley, Kyle Hybl, R-Colorado Springs, and Glen Gallegos, R-Grand Junction.

The board first failed to elect a chairperson in June after an unprecedented 14 rounds of secret-ballot voting. When they reconvened in July for a special meeting, they elected Carrigan after just one round of voting. Carrigan earned four votes.

Bosley has twice served as chairman during his tenure on the board. He said it's the duty of the chairperson to work closely not just with fellow board members, but also with the administration.

Bosley said he and Hybl were both supportive of their colleagues' measure to examine political diversity on campus but made suggestions that included sending it first to a regent committee or having an outside review process similar to the one Bosley led on tenure review.

Regent Jim Geddes

"I've always taken the approach of doing what's best for CU," Bosley said.

Both Bosley and Hybl have cast votes in the past in support of concealed weapons on campus. In 2010, the regents voted to appeal to the state's highest court in an effort to overturn a Colorado Court of Appeals decision that the university violated state law by banning concealed weapons from its campuses. Bosley and Hybl were among the minority who dissented. Gallegos was not yet on the board.

Ryan Call, chairman of the Colorado Republican Committee, said in a statement that GOP majorities on the Board of Regents have helped cut internal bureaucracy at CU, implement tenure reforms and "achieve unprecedented fundraising success that has improved the quality of education to better meet the needs of students and businesses."

"While there will always be healthy debate within our party about how best to advance Republican principles, there is also an expectation that Republican majorities in any legislative or governing body will result in Republican leaders being chosen to preside," he said. "But regardless of who serves as chairman of the Board of Regents, you can count on Republicans to support meaningful and innovative reforms to improve the quality of higher education and be good stewards of tuition dollars, donor contributions and taxpayer funds."

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